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Mapo Tofu/Story
Fondness Story I. A Small Shop Before Granny left, she gave the shop to me. Granny could prepare many dishes, but her specialty is the famous Mapo Tofu. She always spoke about the secret to prepare Mapo Tofu: Spicy and tender, hot and fragrant. Apart from that, it must be bursting with color in order to look appetizing to those who toiled the whole day. The colorful scene of white rice being drizzled by a bowl of freshly-cooked Mapo Tofu is sufficient to make one hungry. The fragrant Mapo Tofu and white rice in this store is not only charged lesser than those one can find in any average restaurant, but it also allows one to refill the rice for free. Moreover, the price of the food in the store has never increased for years, enabling the fame of this Mapo Tofu to spread to every nooks and crannies of the harbor. Many people who did not earn much usually patronize Granny's shop after a hard day of work to enjoy a steaming bowl of Mapo Tofu. With a smile on her face, Granny would then fill a bowl of white rice for them. There's no one that would not give a thumbs up after eating Granny's Mapo Tofu. Apart from that, there were also a number of people who came from distant lands just for this bowl of Mapo Tofu. Those who live in the same homeland as Granny had once ask her why she did not raise the price of the Mapo Tofu after all this years. This was what Granny said with a smile on her face: "I wanted to make the same Mapo Tofu that he eat back then upon returning." Granny's lover was a sailor who worked in the harbor. It was a bowl of Mapo Tofu that let them to know each other. However, he and his companion left on a journey and never came back. Some said that they met a storm at sea. Some said that they went to paradise and forgotten they way home. Others even say that their fate were sealed when they encountered the Fallen Angels that roam in the sea. Yet, Granny continued to wait in her little shop...... Even till the day her hair became white, she was still unable to see her lover that she dreamt about. As granny laid on the bed and looked at her sobbing employees, she pats my hand with a benign smile on her face. "Mapo Tofu, I shall hand over, Granny's shop to you.......If he were to return, you must help me prepare the best bowl of Mapo Tofu for him......" It was the first time I wasn't able to hold back my tears. I looked at Granny hands slowly slip off my hand and buried my head into what little warmth that remains her hand. My trembling shoulders indicate that I accepted her request. "In your stead, I'll......definitely wait for him to return......" As spring and winter pass by, I waited in this shop for that person who would never return. "Boss! I would want another bowl of Mapo Tofu!" "Coming up!" I maneuvered through the shop that is jam-packed with customers with a tray in my hand before serving the bowl full of Mapo Tofu on the table. On the other side, it was a customer who is eating Mapo Tofu for the first time. The spiciness turned his face red and he used his hands to wave his burning tongue. An employee served him a cup of tea, but he began jumping when he was scalded by the hot tea. The customers in the shop began laughing at this scene. It was another ordinary day in Mapo Tofu's shop and there was never any silence in her shop. II. Destroyed The inexpensive Mapo tofu has become the preferred choice for almost all the dockers. Even the nearby residents will come to me from time to time to pack a Mapo tofu and return home to add vegetables. Although not much money can be earned in each plate, such a booming business has caused some people's dissatisfaction. After the arrival of the new Chamber of Commerce, the wharf has grown stronger and stronger. Originally, it was only a small wharf for villagers to communicate with the outside, but now it has become more and more prosperous. Those who have taken a fancy to the future business of the wharf are becoming more and more dissatisfied with mother-in-law's small shop. The villagers said that a fancy restaurant had been built not far from the shop, but the price and the not so good taste there made it really impossible for the folks who used to eat Mapo tofu to raise interest. Restaurant owners don't find the reason from themselves, they always think that as long as they don't have this shop, their business will be as prosperous as that of mother-in-law's shop. So they started using various methods to drive me away. Several ruffians swaggered to the shop with sticks in their hands. When the guys kindly asked them what they wanted to eat, they suddenly got into trouble. Amid the exclamations of the crowd, Scallion was startled into my arms by a sudden loud noise. The fellow who was close to them was taken as the object of venting, and was kicked into the store and and knocked the table upside down. The guests in the store were frightened, or fled, or found a safe place to hide. I patted my little Scallion's butt, put him in another man's arms, rubbed my wet hands dry on my clothes from cooking, and walked out of the kitchen. Looking at a messy storefront, I frowned and looked at the two hooligans with wooden sticks and squinted slightly. "It seems that there is no way for us to have a proper discussion." The two swollen-faced hooligans who had been beaten by me crawled out of my shop. The broken sticks in their hands and nosebleeds on their faces made them look particularly embarrassed. In the midst of all the cheers and laughter of everyone, they pointed at me and uttered the line that every villain would say. 　　''You, you wait for us!!!" I waved to them and responded with a smile. "Remember to let your boss send more sturdy people next time, but don't be such a mess like you!" In the applause and laughter of the villagers, I arched my hands to everyone and went back to the shop, greeting the guys to clean up the messed tables and chairs and prepare to open again. When I was cleaning up, a man who had not left after her mother-in-law's death looked a little evasive, and I could not help but care a little. I looked at his wrinkled eyebrows. 　　''Lao Hong? Are you okay? If there's any difficulty, remember to talk to the big guys. " Lao Hong seemed to wake up suddenly from the nightmare. After a stunned panic, he squirmed a smile, although the smile was a little reluctant. "No, nothing." I watched Lao Hong bend his back again behind him and wrinkle his brows indefinitely. III. Betrayal Lao Hong’s behavior is getting more and more abnormal. He is an honest man who doesn't lie very much, but he's been peeping at the counter lately. I don't know what he wants to do. Until one day - when I went out to buy vegetables and sorted the drawers, I found that the seals that had been hidden in the depths of the counter had been passively traced. I don't care too much, I only thought I messed up the drawers when I took the money. Those who come for trouble are coming more and more frequently. I'm used to driving them away as a warm-up before opening a shop every day. But suddenly one day, they didn't show up on time. They are also accustomed to using the daily market as a day of talks, and the neighbors who are sitting on the side of the street waiting for their arrival are also curious to probe. "Madame, are they scared by you? They won't come!" Before I could answer, a peddler who was selling groceries on the street rushed in. "Madame Boss! You have to hide!" "...What's the matter?" "The owner of that restaurant came with a group of people! A lot of people! It's menacing! You can't beat them alone! Go and hide!" When I heard the news, the villagers and the guys all cast a worried eye on me. Everyone urged me to take some valuable things to avoid the limelight. I looked hesitantly at the stores that had been running for decades and rejected their offer. "If you are afraid, go out and hide first. I'll take it from here. " What surprised me was that after I said this, none of the guys who were afraid of it left. Even the villagers had brought many broomsticks from their homes to help me. Before I could express my gratitude to everyone, the vast group of people came up to me. I stood in front of them and looked at the boss in a luxurious robe. I looked at the smile on his face, and I always felt that something important had been neglected by me. "Madame, I'm not here to fight with you today. I'm here to talk to you about the debt. " "Debt? When did I owe you money?" "You have to ask yourself. " I watched him pull out a note from his clothes, under which he struck the seal of our store. 　　"You see, this is not the seal of your store, Madame~'' I looked at his unkind smile on the corner of his mouth, and suddenly remembered the seal that appeared inexplicably on the counter. Is it... I stared fiercely at the boss who was more and more proud of his smile. "You-!" "Ha ha ha, it seems that Madame knows? But I know it's too late, we are holding this owe, afraid that the shopkeeper's shop will be mortgaged to me! I'll give you three days, either honestly close the shop and leave, or I take the public to copy your home!" "You-! This is a fake!" "But the chapter above is true! Madame, don't you recognize this chapter? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! " "I don't recognize this chapter.'' As we confronted each other, a strange voice broke the tension between us. We turned our heads to one side, and when the man in a suit found that we had finally turned our attention to him, he gently raised his eyebrow and greeted us with a smile. "I think I can give you an answer to the question about this seal. " The man seemed accustomed to everyone focusing their eyes on him, and easily pulling the paper out of the restaurant owner's hand, carefully examining it, and then walking slowly up to Lao Hong, putting his arm around his shoulder. "Such a new trace, and the writing of the owed note is not the landlady's. Madame, do you think it's going to get in the way of finding such a timid fellow? Come on, brother, can you tell me what you talked about to the owner of the restaurant on the street corner the day before yesterday while the landlady was out shopping? What did you give him?" "I-" "Brother, you have to say it word by word. That day, my brother heard it clearly in the alley.... " Lao Hong's face grew paler and paler after he heard the man's words. After he had finished speaking, Lao Hong threw himself down on the ground and knelt down, bowing his head at me. "Madame Boss, I really can't help it... I, I don't know if this piece of paper is what it means... Lao Hong is not literate. Madame Boss..." I watched Lao Hong, whose forehead was red. I already had an answer in my heart, but there is still some helplessness. "Lao Hong... Why didn't you tell us?..." "...Madame Boss... Lao Hong knows that you don't have much money. My mother is sick, how many bowls of Mapo tofu can be sold to earn back..." I watched Lao Hong crying on the ground and clenched his fist tightly. The restaurant owner was opposite, who was not satisfied with the failure of his plan, shouted angrily. "Give it to me! Give me this broken shop!! I see it robbing me of business again! " And the man who turned the situation around in a few simple sentences turned around and stood in front of him with a sneer. "If I haven't finished talking about it, why are you angry?" Brothers, let the boss see today, who is the boss of the wharf, Chamber of Commerce, when is it his turn to have a small restaurant?'' IV. Forgiveness After a period of chaos, the hooligans brought by the restaurant owner had been beaten up by the members of the Chamber of Commerce. They were still shouting and waving their fists, swollen into a pig's face and missing a few teeth, but they amused the onlookers who were watching. After the folks who were still outside the store went home, the guys also got off work ahead of time. Only Lao Hong knelt down in front of the shop and refused to leave. I looked back and saw that the man was elegantly rolling down the sleeves that had just been rolled up because of the fight. The men around him handed him a suit coat. "Why are you helping me?'' "I think that guy's doing something wrong on my territory. Is that a good reason? " I looked at the man's smile and frowned. "Do I look like such a liar?" The man looked at me with a smile for a moment, and finally put away his smiling face. He hung his suit coat on his arm. "To tell you the truth, I'm here to find the gentleman who hasn't appeared in your shop. Mr. Peking Duck, better known than to meet, just an advice." I turned around in his sight. Peking Duck had come out and leaned against the door of my shop, holding his pipe to which he had never left. "The president of the Chamber of Commerce, or Mr. Buddha's Temptation, long-awaited." Looking at those two inexplicable guys who started to be polite, I had a headache to put aside their two affairs for a while. They had no plans to be polite to me either. They went into my shop and sat down politely with each other. It looks like we're going to talk about something big. I looked at Lao Hong, who was still kneeling on the ground without raising his head, and felt helpless again. I went up to him and lifted him up and patted the dust off his body. Lao Hong, why are you suffering?" The man who has always been honest and frank stood decadently, bowed his head and didn't want to look at me. He always smiled earnestly. For the first time, I saw such a sad expression on his face. "I know I'm sorry for the landlady and my mother-in-law, but... I really needed money... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... " "...You wait." I turned around and went into the shop. Peking Duck had talked with Buddha's Temptation for a short time. They both looked at me in some doubts. "Mapo Tofu? What's wrong?" "Pay the previous information fee." "Eh? Why are you suddenly willing to accept it again?…… Although Peking Duck was a bit surprised, he bowed his head and relieved himself of the money bag and handed it to me. "Take it yourself." I took some money out of it and threw the money bag back into the arms of Peking Duck. "Just take this?" "Enough. You go on talking and remember to explain to me in a minute. " I walked out of the store, and Lao Hong did not leave. I stepped forward and stuffed my belongings into his hands. He stared at me in surprise and looked up at me. "Madame Boss?!" "Don't look at me like that. I promised my mother-in-law to take good care of the store. You are also part of it. " "Thank you, thank you--" "Don't be too happy. I'm willing to give you money doesn't mean I forgive you. You have to make your own mistakes, you have to work hard to repay. Starting tomorrow, you will work two hours more each day, and your salary will be deducted by half until it is paid off. And help to clean the toilet." "All right, all right... Madame Boss... " "What are you crying about?" 　　"Whoo-hoo-hoo, Madame.....'' V. Mapo Tofu Mapo Tofu is an extremely cool person. She is arrogant, atmospheric, and bold. If the villagers have any difficulties, they can ask her for help. And her Master Attendant is also a kind-hearted old woman who pays tribute to the folks. The mother-in-law has no children, and Mapo Tofu inherits her small shop, making the mapo tofu, which her mother-in-law is best at, green out of blue. Many people have asked her why she does not raise prices. Mapo Tofu always laughs and shakes her head without answering. The red-hot business has naturally attracted some people's red eyes. They wanted to drive Mapo Tofu away in a despicable way, but with the help of Buddha's Temptation, the conspiracy with little technical content was broken almost in an instant. Mapo Tofu did not drive away the man who had lost his mind because he was in a hurry to use money. The man worked in the shop while his mother-in-law was still there, and worked conscientiously for more than ten years. Mapo Tofu knows how filial a middle-aged man who regards his mother-in-law as his mother's. She also understands why men are too late to ask for help from themselves. Although the shop has a prosperous business, the profit from selling a mapo tofu is pitifully low. So, Mapo Tofu talked to the man who had always been very rich. Speaking of Peking Duck, he had been pursuing the news of a cult, and Mapo Tofu, who has been living near the dock, is one of his dark stakes. Mapo Tofu accepted his request unconditionally and became one of his secret stakes, collecting the clues of the cult and transmitting information for him after she understood the evil deeds that the cult had done. She never asked Beijing Roast Duck for a fee, even if it was a promise from the beginning of Peking Duck's remuneration. Even when Peking Duck stuffed his money bag into her hand, she would be sneakily stuff it back into Peking Duck's luggage. So when she asked Peking Duck for the information fee, Peking Duck was also surprised. What made this stubborn person blush and ask for his reward? Hiding in the shop, you can only vaguely hear about Peking Duck touching its chin with some amusement. Soon, he learned about the man in Mapo Tofu's store from Buddha's Temptation. So when she waited for the Buddha's Temptation to leave, she returned to the store to see the Peking Duck with a teasing smile. 　　"In the future, if you need help, just say it. You don't have to carry it on your own. We are comrades-in-arms, are we?'' Mapo Tofu gave him a bad look. "Stop talking about me, how does that guy named Buddha's Temptation know you're here? What did he come to you for?" Peking Duck squinted at Mapo tofu, which she wants to divert from, and answered her questions before she got angry. "He is the president of the Chamber of Commerce. He recently wanted to start trade on land. The most important thing for businessmen is naturally intelligence." "So? You just ripped him off? " "How can this be called ripping him off? It’s called like minded cooperation~ Cooperation~” “A group of profiteers...” “Oh, I’m not a businessman, I’m just a pawnshop owner, low-key, low-key. But chatting with smart people is really pleasant~" Mapo Tofu glanced at the fellow who was blowing clouds and squinting at his eyes. Although Peking Duck still looked calm, it could hardly hide the pleasure of making a big deal. "Scallion, let's go, don't mix in with these rich people." Mapo Tofu reached out and picked up the panda that had been following at her feet. "Oh - don't do this, I still want to eat the mapo tofu you made." "No food for you. " "Give me a hug, Scallion? " "Scallion is not for you!'' 　　While Mapo Tofu and Peking Duck competed for Scallion, an old figure who was supported by a young man trembled to the front of the store. "I finally came back... I finally found you... I finally came back..." Category:Food Soul Story